


All for Grace

by esteefee



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-14
Updated: 2011-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-20 09:50:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/211460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esteefee/pseuds/esteefee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for <a href="http://h50promptmeme.livejournal.com/1160.html?thread=3464#t3464">the h50promptmeme round 1</a>:  <i>"When Grace is kidnapped, Steve goes full-on ninja to rescue her. Maybe they can only send one person in to get her, so against all of his protective paternal instincts Danny has to trust Steve to do it, since he's the most capable. Bonus if Steve gets badly injured during all of this. Also, please don't actually hurt Grace. :(</i></p><p>  <i>I KNOW IT'S CLICHE AND I DON'T CARE."</i><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	All for Grace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [caliecat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/caliecat/gifts).



> [I was reluctant to archive this because it really was written to be anonymous, but caliecat convinced me. So here goes.]

Chin and Kono were on fire—Steve couldn't remember ever seeing the two of them so focused and working in such perfect sync, two pairs of hands taking turns dancing across the computer table as they mumbled to each other in broken sentences, catching ideas and pitching them back and forth.

All for Grace.

Danny, of course, was a complete mess. He kept wandering between his office and the kitchen and the main room, bringing out fresh cups of coffee and leaving them, the phone glued to his ear on the line to Rachel and sometimes even Stan, even though Steve knew he probably wanted to kill Stan, wanted to string him up by his balls and exsanguinate him.

It was all Stan's goddamned fault.

No, no, it wasn't Stan's fault, he was just the tempting target with big money. It was the fault of the soulless bastards who had taken Grace—Steve knew that, but if he was having trouble holding onto that thought, he couldn't imagine what Danny was going through.

Steve was keeping it together, because he needed to for Grace and Danny, and because they had some leads, some good ones, and he'd pulled out all the stops. He'd had the Governor call in a favor with SecNav, and Five-0 actually had Cath's services legit for once, and satellite time, and she and Steve were combing through landmarks based on the one proof-of-life video clip they'd been furnished by the kidnappers. It would be a race between them, and Chin and Kono's analysis of Stan's finances—someone must have been poking where they'd damn well shouldn't have.

They'd also put in a call to Toast, and even Charlie Fong was pitching in, trying to identify the birdcalls from the recording so they could pinpoint geography that way.

Meanwhile, Danny was a sweating, pacing, caffeine-overdosed wreck, and Steve couldn't tear his own attention away from his search long enough to do anything about it.

"Danny! Danny, get over here and see if you recognize anything," Steve said the next time Danny's shadow looped by, hoping to distract him.

Danny's head popped into his doorway long enough to glare at him with bloodshot, tortured eyes. "I don't know this fucking island well enough, Steven. I'd be useless, thank you very much, so if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be devoting my time more effectively—"

"So why don't you track down the VIN on that rental van and give it to Chin—"

"Already done."

"And while you're at it, get on the horn and tell Kamekona to get his ass down here. He can probably help me with this."

Danny blinked. "That's...not a bad idea."

"And forensics is probably done with their report on the van, if you want to start sifting through it."

"They wiped it clean. There's probably shit to be found—"

"Worth a look." Steve stared at him evenly, thinking, _come on, Danny. Shut it off, just for ten minutes, or you'll lose your shit. You'll lose everything._

Steve had been there not too long ago, so he got it—he got it perfectly—but he didn't know how to do anything but throw stuff Danny's way and show him they were all on it, they were going to do this, they were going to get Grace back. They were.

"Right. I'll..." Danny's voice broke, and he rolled his head against the doorframe, grinding against it.

Steve got up and went over to him to put a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to do this," Steve said. "Believe it."

Danny made a sound that nearly broke Steve's heart. He squeezed hard until Danny nodded.

"Yeah," Steve said. "I know you know it. Now go look at that report."

Four and a half hours later, more than five hours before the deadline set for the next phone call, they had what they thought was a pretty good previous location for Grace based on birdsong, sediment from the floor and tires of the van, and Kamekona and Steve's I.D. of the landmarks behind Grace's head. But Kaena Point State Park was a pretty big area; the real break came later when Chin and Kono's investigation into one of the park's rangers matched up as a known associate of the black hat, Melvon Mossman, backtraced by Toast.

But they were out of time and the deadline was about to hit, so they mobilized—Danny, Kono, and Stan with the money and a S.W.A.T team heading toward Melvon's last known address, and Steve and Chin already racing to Kaena with another team.

Danny had wanted to go to Kaena. Steve took a punch to the jaw when he refused him.

"Fuck you, McGarrett, 'You're not going'! The hell you say! She's my daughter!" Danny shook out his hand.

Steve had been expecting it; hell, he was grateful he'd landed on the couch and not the floor. He worked his jaw before pushing to his feet and putting up his hands. "Look. You can't be in two places at once, right?"

"So, I'm going where Grace probably is!" Danny looked ready to hit him again.

"And you're going to leave Rachel and Stan to negotiate with this asshole? We need you there. What if his address is a fake? You can't be at the ass end of the Island when that call comes in."

Danny's eyes flickered. But then his chin firmed. "But the plan—see, right—I know what you're doing here, asshole, and the plan is if we don't have the right location, to show with the money but then take this jerk down hard and get Gracie. So, tell me how I'm going to do that when I'm twenty fucking miles away?"

Steve sucked in a breath. "You aren't. Because if Grace isn't with Mossman, then she's with Newalu. That means Chin and I will get her. And you know we will, right? You know she—Danny, you have to know I would do anything to get her back for you. Anything and everything. You can't think there's anything you would do that I wouldn't."

Steve looked at him, looked right at him with his hands by his sides, and tried to make Danny see it, because if he couldn't see this, didn't trust him, then there wasn't anything, not a goddamned thing Steve could do now to convince him. And if Danny couldn't see this in Steve's eyes right here, right now, then there was no point in trying anything with him in the future.

But there was no way Steve was going to give on this point and watch Danny lose everything. Not a chance in hell. They needed him at the drop.

Danny stared at him hard, as if he were trying to peel back the layers of Steve's skin. As if he really needed to, which hurt. It fucking hurt. But Steve let him, trying not to flinch, and finally, finally Danny gave a slow nod, as if his neck were rusty, and let his chin rest on his chest.

"Okay," Danny said, his voice broken. "Just, if she isn't at Mossman's—bring home my baby. Bring home my baby girl, Steve. I'm begging you—"

"Jesus, yes. Yes, Danny, you know I will." Steve cupped the back of Danny's neck and squeezed, then shook him a little. "Damn it."

"Boss, it's almost time."

"Yeah, Chin. I'm ready to roll."

Steve didn't look back as he left. He gave some last instructions to Kono—essentially telling her to try to keep Danny from killing Mossman, and told her he knew she would back the hell out of Danny if Grace was there. Kono was grim but gave him a little quirk of a smile that said she was on it, and then there was no time at all, and he and Chin took Steve's truck and hit the road.

It was show time.

\+ + + +

Steve hadn't expected it to be so nerve-wracking to be split from the other half of the team. If it weren't for the distraction of driving he probably would have had even more trouble dealing with it.

Chin was even worse off than he was. He kept shifting in his seat and staring out the window, then flicking glances down at his phone like he couldn't believe it wasn't ringing already. Finally he started texting Kono, only to get back a message that made him growl.

"She says 'Chill, Einstein. Time is relative.'"

"Great. Now we've got the rookie making jokes."

Chin took a look behind them. "You might want to slow down before you lose the S.W.A.T. van, brah."

Steve eased his foot from the accelerator and shrugged apologetically.

Eventually they reached Kaena and pulled into the parking lot, and a few minutes later Chin's phone rang. He put it on speaker so Steve could listen in.

_"Cuz, I'm thinking Steve made a mistake with the split."_

Steve leaned over. "What's going on, Kono?"

_"We've got Mossman in custody all right. Little weasel. His partner's got Grace, not him, and Danny's losing it all over the guy."_

"You have to rein him back, Kono."

_"He says he's going to get the info out of him, but I'm thinking if his partner doesn't hear from him it's going to be worse—wait! We're being stupid. All we need is to find his phone! Chin, I'm going to hook you up, hang on—"_

Chin opened his laptop and started connecting. Steve thought it might be a good time to talk to S.W.A.T. about the operation, so he went to talk to Carter, the team captain. They worked out a quick op plan, and then Steve pulled his tactical gear out of the trunk and got vested up and checked his weapons. By the time he was done, Chin was standing next to him, his face like stone.

"Bad news, boss."

"What? We didn't get a location? God, tell me—"

"No, we got one, but he's holed up further south in one of the Kaneana caves. Good news is Mossman gave away he's alone. But I got Cath to send me a sat photo, and it doesn't look easy. Check it out." Chin pulled up a photograph of a green cliff face pocked by cave mouths. Chin pointed to one. "Totally inaccessible except by climbing; or maybe by chopper, but then he'd hear us coming. He must've come in from the top and rappelled down with her, probably unconscious. This bastard really thought things out."

"Jesus Christ." No S.W.A.T. "Okay, new plan. I've got climbing gear in the truck. I go in alone. I climb up the face and take him on."

Chin looked at him like he was plumb nuts.

"Then tell me what else we got."

"Other than a poho plan that gets you killed when he looks over the edge, sees you coming and shoots you?"

"Look again at that photo. Plenty of green. I camo up. The only sticky part is entering the cave. But he won't be expecting me at all. He has no idea I'm coming. When is he expecting the call? How much time do we have?"

"Kono said Danny got the weasel to tell him their next communication is supposed to happen after the drop, when Newalu gets the word what to do. We've got about two hours. The drop is set for four-fifteen."

"So we'd better get fucking moving."

\+ + + +

_"You're out of your mind. I know Chin told you that already, because that is the natural conclusion any sane person would come to, and Chin is an eminently sane individual—"_

"Yeah, yeah. Look, we're almost at the entry point, so if you want to bitch at me some more, it will have to be after I turn my phone back on."

 _"Wait! Wait, just—"_ Danny's voice sounded shaky. _"Just, we're driving as fast as we can."_

"You know I can't wait for you to get here."

_"I know. But whatever happens. Whatever—you'll be the last one, maybe, to see her—"_

"Danny. Everything's going to be fine. I'm going to go get Grace now. I'm going to bring her back. This will all be over in," Steve looked at his watch, "say, forty five minutes for the climb, ten seconds to subdue the bastard, and then the chopper can come and transfer her right on over into your arms. Okay? In less than an hour Grace will be back in your arms. Well, we can't call the chopper in yet because it might give him warning, so say an hour fifteen max. Maximum that."

_"An hour fifteen. I'm holding you to that, McGarrett."_

"No problem."

_"And...be careful."_

"I won't let him harm a hair on her head."

_"No, idiot. You. Be careful."_

"Will do." Steve hung up fast and turned off his phone. He turned to Chin, who had been listening in, he knew, because he gave Steve a small smile, barely turning up the corners of his lips, and clapped Steve on the back.

"Pomaika`i, brah."

"Mahalo." Steve grinned and raced up the mountain.

\+ + + +

His arms were trembling a little, but his legs still felt strong. He made a mental note to do a little more free climbing in addition to his usual uphill runs in the future. It wasn't good to let any part of his training go lax.

He was getting close. He could see the mouth of the cave two hundred feet above and to the right; the asshole idiot had left his rappelling rope as a clear marker. Unfortunately, the cave mouth had a slight overhang, and Steve could see no approach that would let him get in without scrabbling with both hands. Not good. Really not good. Maybe when he got closer he'd find a better angle. A quick glance at this watch, though, told him he was rapidly running out of time.

He needed one free hand for his weapon to get the drop on the guy. Steve just didn't think he would have that advantage.

When he finally reached the overhang, he quietly wedged a nut and set his safety line, then found a slight depression that allowed him to pull up enough to get a quick glimpse inside before silently lowering himself back down to his foothold.

Things were looking up slightly. The cave was much bigger than he'd hoped. Grace was asleep or perhaps unconscious on some blankets in the rear at his eleven o'clock. Newalu was sitting on a fold-up stadium chair playing with a PSP or some sort of hand-held toy at Steve's three o'clock.

He could do this.

Steve rehearsed the action a few times in his mind—the pull up, the push, the draw from his holster. He took five rapid, silent breaths to oxygenate his blood, then he hooked his hands onto the overhang, pulled, pushed over, and surged and squirmed onto his left side, drawing his weapon with his legs still hanging but his eyes on the target, who was already moving and yelling and scrambling for his own gun.

They both fired.

Steve felt a flash of heat below his armpit, but that didn't matter as much as seeing Newalu's chest blossom red at dead center mass. And then Steve had other things to worry about, because the recoil was making him teeter back toward the edge. He dropped his weapon and heaved with hands and knees until he was on solid ground, and then he shot his eyes at Newalu.

No movement. Newalu was crumpled on the floor of the cave, his chest still.

"Grace?" Steve looked over, but she hadn't stirred, which made his adrenaline kick even higher than should be possible, considering he'd taken a hit. The area under his left arm was numb, which was not good news. His ribcage there was icy and wet, so he was losing volume, but he couldn't get under his vest to see how bad it was. He needed to get to Grace and make the call, in that order.

He grabbed his gun and stood, using the cave wall for an assist, and once he was on his feet unhooked his line and stumbled over to confirm that Newalu was no longer a threat. He then holstered his weapon and went over to kneel by Grace.

She was breathing. God. The rush of relief was so powerful he wanted to blame his sudden faintness on the blood loss.

"Grace? Sweetheart?" Steve brushed her hair back from her forehead and then let his hand rest there. Her skull seemed so small and fragile. He timed her pulse—twelve in ten seconds—that was normal for an adult, but he had no idea what a kid's should be. He stroked her hair again.

She murmured something indistinct. Steve thought it was maybe 'Danno.'

Steve pulled out his phone and made the call.

"Yeah, it's me." Steve could barely understand his own voice, it was suddenly so hoarse. "Danny, she's fine. She's right here and she's fine. She's sleeping; looks like they kept her asleep."

There was silence, and then a single, choked sound.

"I know, babe. I—just send the chopper, Danny." It was getting a little hard to talk for some reason, and Steve leaned against the wall of the cave, closing his eyes. "You should hang up and call the chopper and come get her."

Danny seemed to find his voice finally. _"Steve, oh, God, put the phone—Grace? Monkey? Danno's coming. Danno will be right there, baby."_

Steve smiled. "She's asleep, Danny, but I'm sure she heard you."

_"God, thank you, so, so—I can't even—"_

"I know. It's okay. I would have—I love her, too, Danny," Steve found himself saying, he didn't even know why, because he shouldn't have said that. It wasn't his place, but he was getting tired of not saying things. Because he did love Grace, and he opened his eyes to look down at her beautiful face, her little snub of a nose and the lashes fanning her cheeks. So quiet and peaceful. He was glad she was still sleeping and hadn't heard the gunfire or seen any blood.

There was a lot of it now, he realized, wetting to the ends of his shirt and seeping warm into his pants. He should have taken off his vest and applied a dressing first thing. But it hadn't seemed as important as checking the perp and getting to Grace. Telling Danny.

Priorities. Danny was always telling him he had messed-up priorities.

Steve smiled again.

He rolled away from Grace so he could sit against the wall. When he lifted his hands to undo his vest something hard dropped to the floor—maybe his gun. He must've had the safety on. That was lucky. Stupid to mishandle his weapon like that.

He tried to unfasten his vest, but gave up when it got too hard.

\+ + + +

He heard chopper blades thrumming through the deck beneath him, and opened his eyes. He could feel his pulse tapping fast and hot in his ear drums, way too fast, and turned his head, saw a corpsman's rig, and for a dizzying second tasted desert sand, but then he saw a blond head beyond the corpsman's waist and thought, Danny, and saw Danny was kneeling beside Grace, his head down beside her, her little hand pressed to his face, and Steve closed his eyes and smiled.

\+ + + +

"...Actions of an unbelievable idiot, but that shouldn't surprise me. I mean no big revelation there, am I right? And when I tell you to 'be careful', of course that means 'get shot at the first opportunity'. Of course it does!"

"Uh?"

"Oh, you're conscious finally? So glad you're awake to hear this. I so hate wasting my verbal talents on comatose idiots who don't follow my explicit instructions not to get almost-fatally wounded!"

"Mmm-hmm."

"By the way, and Grace says 'hi'. She's sorry she can't be here to yell at you, too, but she's home with Rachel today. I got to zip between her and you all of yesterday. It was really convenient having both of you in the hospital at the same time."

Steve blinked his eyes open to see Danny's bloodshot ones staring into his.

"Sorry."

Danny's face broke into a crazed smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "How did I know? I just did. I knew that would be the first thing you would say to me, you stupid person. You giant, stupid—look, just keep your mouth shut and look pretty for a second, would you? Only not so pretty, because you're way too pale for a Hawaiian right now, what with, oh, the blood loss and the crappy hospital lights."

Danny shifted closer, and suddenly Steve was a lot more awake. He was aware of the ache beneath some pretty good pain killers, and he tried to look down at his torso.

"Yeah, you messed yourself up pretty good there. Tell me how you managed to get yourself shot under your vest? That was a pretty nifty trick. They teach you special skills like that in the army?"

Steve didn't bother to respond to the tired old jab. "Was lying down."

"Lying down on the job. Typical." Despite the joke, Danny was frowning now, and Steve wished he wasn't. He liked the smile a whole lot better.

"Overhang," Steve tried to explain. "Couldn't—" he swallowed. His mouth was gummy. "Got anything to drink?"

"So now you expect me to wait on you? I've only been sitting here for hours begging for the opportunity." Danny shook his head and brought him a little cup of water, too tiny for Steve's tastes, but he had that post-op queasy feeling in his stomach that told him maybe drinking too much was a bad idea, anyway. He took a couple of sips and then nodded his thanks.

"Grace okay?"

Danny smiled again, for real, and Steve couldn't help smiling back. "She's fine. I mean, yeah, she's freaked out, but she's tough—my baby girl is tough. You know she bit one of them when they first chloroformed her? She told me she thought she might need a tetanus shot, and I asked her why, and she said she bit one of them." Danny laughed, but there were tears in his eyes. "Rachel is going to take her to see someone, but so far no nightmares, and I watched her sleep for hours yesterday." Suddenly Danny grabbed Steve's forearm with both hands. "Steven. Steve—what you did—"

"Same as you would've. Exactly the same," Steve said, still feeling groggy but knowing he had to cut this off at the pass. He locked eyes with Danny. "Hell, when it was Mary—"

Danny was shaking his head.

"No, no—come on, Danny, even if—it was Grace." Steve tried to tug his arm loose, but it made the monster chewing on his side bite down hard, and he gave up.

"Yeah, it was Grace, Steve, and it would've destroyed me."

"Look—" He couldn't stand to see Danny staring at him like that, his eyes bleeding blue like that, and he had to look away. "What I mean is, your...it was...it was, Grace, damn it," he finished, helpless to say more. "You know?"

Maybe it was enough, though, because Danny squeezed his arm and let go. "Yeah, I know. Boy, do I know. But, hey," Danny patted his shoulder, "hey, Superman, look over here for a sec."

"What?" And, boy, that was a mistake, because Danny's eyes were soft now, and still so damned earnest. "What? Come on," Steve almost growled. He couldn't take much more of this. Not hopped up on drugs. Not with Danny looking at him like that. He was going to say something really stupid pretty damned soon.

A sudden amazed look took over Danny's face. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh? No, no, I...I'm really? Wow." Danny blinked at him, his head ducking down, a broad smile on his face.

Steve's heart rate kicked up. He said quickly, "Hey, how bad was I shot, anyway? I thought it was just a skim?"

Danny was shaking his head a little in wonder. "You're a real piece of work, you know that? You thought it was just a scratch? You'd lost two pints before we even showed up. You shouldn't be spilling ketchup like that." He reached down and unhooked the call button. "Speaking of which, the doc is going to want to know you're awake and kicking."

But he'd barely pushed the button before the nurse came in, and then the doctor. After that, Chin and Kono showed up, big grins on their faces, so that was the last chance Steve had to talk to Danny alone for a while.

He noticed that Danny stuck around, though, which was nice. Really nice. Maybe Danny wasn't too freaked about what Steve had just given away. Steve only wished he knew if it was because Danny wanted to be there, or was just grateful about Grace.

\+ + + +

"Uncle Steve!" Grace came skipping in the door, and, Jesus, she looked fine, she looked perfect.

Steve resolved right then and there not to bitch about the three weeks downtime the doc had forecast for how long it would take to heal up from the eighty-four stitches and blood-loss. At least the bullet had been nice enough to stay outside his ribcage and not fuck with his internal organs, even if it had caused a few big bleeders.

"Hiya, Grace! Hey, Danny."

"We brought you something." Grace came slowly over to the bed, suddenly acting shy.

"I'm sure I'll like it, whatever it is." He took the wrapped present and gave a questioning look to Danny, who was grinning a little slyly. In fact, Danny hadn't stopped smiling until he'd left to go be with Grace, and now here he was back again.

"Open it! Open it!"

"Yeah, okay." His left side was too stiff to do more than hold the package, but he used his right hand to push off the ribbon and then tear off the paper. The box was from some fancy department store, which didn't bode well. He pulled off the top and pushed back the tissue paper. Inside was—

"Oh, it's a sweater. That's real nice."

"Not just a sweater," Danny said, a little pointedly, "right, Grace? It's a cardigan."

"Because Danno said you can't lift your arm right now. But it's real soft, Uncle Steve. It's cashmere."

"And it's navy blue," Danny said, and yeah, that was a pretty evil grin on his face now, Steve noticed.

"You are something else," Steve said to Grace with total sincerity, then looked up at Danny. "I mean it." And if his smile turned a little sarcastic, who could blame him?

"Will you wear it when we take you home?" Grace asked. If Steve didn't know any better, he'd think she'd been coached.

"Of course, sweetheart. I'm getting out of here as soon as the doc comes by with my papers."

"You'll probably need this, too." Danny raised a small duffle bag. "Brought you some clothes."

"Thanks."

"We'll, uh, be outside. Just holler if you need a hand."

Steve managed okay with getting his gown off and a pair of track pants pulled up, opting to go commando for the sake of expediency. He had his shirt on and buttoned, but there was no way he was going to be able to get his socks and shoes on. He yelled out, "Danno?"

Danny poked his head in.

"I, uh—" Steve sat on the edge of the bed and waved at his feet.

"You got it." No jokes, no sarcastic remarks. Danny just knelt down and accepted the socks Steve handed him. And then he took Steve's right foot into his warm hand, and a shiver ran all the way from Steve's ankle straight into his groin.

Steve closed his eyes and pressed his arm against his bandage, giving himself a nice, dull counter-throb of pain. It seemed to take a long time—Danny's fingers on the bare arch of his foot, then his ankle as he worked the material over to pull the sock up.

Danny gave his foot a little pat before starting the other one. "It seems like forever since I did this for Grace."

Steve stared down at the top of Danny's head, losing himself a little in the shine of blond leading to the darker hair toward the back. "Yeah." Steve cleared his throat. "I bet."

Danny looked up at his tone, still holding Steve's foot braced against his thigh. Then Danny's face changed, and Steve felt him drag his thumb slowly along the top of his bare foot.

Steve's toes flexed and he couldn't help shivering, his eyes half-closing in pleasure.

"Interesting," Danny murmured. "Real interesting, babe." Then Danny yelled, "Grace, you can come in now, we're just getting his shoes on." He lowered his voice apologetically, "I can't stand to have her out of my sight right now."

Steve was still reeling, but he nodded automatically, staring at Danny, who was blinking at him as if he hadn't just completely blown Steve's mind.

Then Grace was there, saying, "You didn't put the sweater on, Uncle Steve."

"Oh, right. I—we have to get the tags off."

"I can do that," she chirped. So while Danny finished getting Steve's shoes on, Grace got the tags off the sweater—Steve saw her using her teeth and winked an eye at her behind Danny's back—then she climbed up on the bed and held it up for him, easing it over his shoulders.

"There you go, Uncle Steve," she said, patting him.

Steve looked at Danny helplessly, waiting for—he didn't know what. Mockery, maybe, because he was sure he looked like the spitting image of Mr. Rogers.

But the look in Danny's eyes, that wasn't amusement. That was something else, and it made Steve's gut tighten, made him wish he and Danny were alone somewhere dark and close and preferably naked.

"Thanks, monkey," Danny said softly. Then he seemed to shake himself. "All right. Let's get this disaster on wheels in motion."

"They've still got to sign me out."

"Oh, yeah. Hang out here for a second and I'll see what's up with that." Danny headed out the door, leaving Steve alone with Grace.

Steve patted the bed beside him, and she plopped down.

"You doing okay, Grace?"

Grace nodded. "I was pretty scared. But Danno says he's proud of me for biting the bad guy. I wish I could have run away but they made me go to sleep." She rubbed her fingers on the sleeve of Steve's sweater. "Thanks for coming to get me, Uncle Steve."

"Hey, it wasn't just me, you know. The whole team found you. Your Danno's the one that found the head guy."

Grace nodded. There were little chips in her plastic hair thing, and they glittered as she bobbed her head. Steve wondered if Rachel had fixed her hair before she went out; if Rachel had planted a kiss there, and been afraid to let her out the door again so soon.

"Your mom okay? Stan?"

Grace nodded again.

"We should let you go home, huh? I bet you want to go home and watch TV. You still like that pineapple guy?" Steve cupped her head like he had in the cave, but now she looked up at him and grinned, a dimple appearing on her cheek.

"He's SpongeBob, Uncle Steve. He only lives in the pineapple!"

"Oh, right. Doesn't he have a pet snail or something?"

"Yeah, Gary. He hates taking baths." Grace giggled, and Steve smiled back, soaking it all in, how very alive she was, as she told him all about the sponge in pants who lived under the sea, and his friends the starfish and the squirrel who sometimes visited in a spacesuit. So bright and alive. She was smart as a whip, and Steve could see Danny in her, but she had a more sober side too.

She really was as tough as nails, just like Danny had said.

By the time Steve had heard all about Gary the Snail's catastrophic bath, Danny had returned with Steve's surgeon, Dr. Akana. For all that Dr. Akana was a tiny bird of a woman, she still read Steve the riot act like an old master sergeant for having shuffled to the bathroom hanging onto his I.V. pole earlier in the day. Eventually, though, she relayed his discharge orders and got him signed out.

"Please, do call if any complications arise," she said, a smile finally appearing on her dour face, and gave him her hand to shake.

"Mahalo, Doc."

And then Steve was finally free. Grace wanted to wheel him out to the parking lot, so Danny helped her, the two of them pretending to groan at how heavy he was, their teasing alleviating some of Steve's embarrassment at not being able to walk out on his own steam.

The Camaro was waiting in the pick-up zone, which made Steve wonder about his truck. Danny told him one of the HPD officers had driven it back to HQ, along with Steve's gear. Good news, there. Steve would hate to have to replace his climbing gear.

He was musing on that as they rode along, and feeling a little dopey on painkillers, but not so much he didn't notice when Danny missed the turn-off to his place.

"Hey, aren't you taking me home?"

"To a home, yes. Not to your place, no." Danny giving a sly look over his shoulder to Grace, who clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"What's this?" Steve gave her an eyebrow. "Some sort of conspiracy?"

"You're a little paranoid, aren't you? This is what happens from too many years in military service, I hear. Messes with the neurons. We just thought, Grace and Rachel and Stan and I, that with being laid up and all, maybe you'd like to come stay at the house for a little while. Eat Cheerios. Watch some cartoons. That's what we were thinking."

It could only be the drugs.

"Stan? And Rachel? What?"

"And me! The sleepover was my idea," Grace said, her voice adamant.

"Well, naturally it was your very good idea," Danny said into the rear-view mirror. "You have nothing but extraordinarily good ideas all the time. Which is why we all agreed a sleepover with Steve was the thing to do."

Steve blinked, his mouth open.

"And pineapple pizza!" Grace said.

Danny's face twisted. "And...pineapple pizza," he choked out.

Steve's mouth snapped shut, and a grin took over his face.

Danny shook a finger at him. "Not a word. Not even a peep."

Leaning back against the headrest, Steve obeyed.

\+ + + +

Rachel and Stan were waiting in the doorway when they pulled up from the front gate. The house—mansion, really—was as big as Steve remembered, so maybe he wouldn't be putting anyone out by staying over after all. But he still felt weird about it.

He'd stiffened up during the ride over, and the low seat wasn't a picnic to get out of, so he was grateful when he put up his arm and Danny was there to pull him up. Then Danny tilted the seat forward and Grace came tumbling out and straight into her mother's arms. Stan knelt down and unselfconsciously hugged them both.

Steve figured they'd be having little reunions like that for a while.

"You okay?" Steve asked quietly, unable to read Danny's expression.

"I'm fine. It's all good, actually." Danny smiled. "Everything's good, you know?"

Steve looked over at the trio. "Yeah, I guess I know what you mean."

The three of them broke apart, then Rachel came over to Steve.

"Commander McGarrett—"

"Steve."

She smiled briefly. Her eyes were shining. "Steve. I just, oh—" She lifted her arms tentatively, and he raised his arm and took her into his right side. She had a little bit of a stranglehold on his neck, and she whispered, "Thank you," against his cheek before pulling back. She dabbed at her eyes. "Stan would hug you too, but I'm afraid he's a bit of a wally and thinks you might punch his lights out."

Steve laughed. "Naw, that's okay. I'm good."

"But I would like to thank you," Stan said, and he was right there, offering his hand.

Steve shook it. "Nothing to thank me for. I'd say I was just doing my job, but it was Grace. I would've done it anyway."

There was a strange quality to Danny's silence beside him, and Steve was tempted to look at him. But he kept his eyes on Rachel, who was still smiling, her eyes damp.

"Well, we should get inside. We have cartoons and pizza waiting," she said.

Danny groaned.

\+ + + +

Steve was grateful for the Vicodin, because otherwise he would have felt really weird sacked out on a giant leather couch between Danny and Grace while Rachel and Stan snuggled in a recliner, together all watching SpongeBob SquarePants, eating ham and pineapple pizza and drinking Coke while Grace giggled and explained who the characters were and just why creating the perfect Krabby Patty was so important to the plot.

It felt like living some seriously whacked-out version of the Brady Bunch.

And maybe the weirdest part of all was how much Steve liked it—listening to Danny ask extra-stupid questions about the show just to hear Grace's ultra-patient, serious explanations and see Rachel hide a smile, and the way Stan would look over and chip in with some trivial fact about marine biology that might be accurate, yeah, but wasn't really pertinent to a sponge with pants on living in a pineapple under the sea, so Grace would make an exasperated sound and say, "No, no, Patrick's only got two eyes, Dad, not five!"

"You tell 'im, monkey."

Steve chuckled. His eyes were closed, and the back of the sofa was awfully soft, and the conversation was started to swim around him like they were all underwater just like SpongeBob.

"Hey. Yo, navy boy."

"Mmm?"

"Uncle Steve?"

He felt Grace's hand on his shoulder, and then maybe her chin, and he opened his eyes and rolled his head over. "Yeah, Grace?"

"You can't fall asleep. Sleepover means we get to stay up way past bedtime."

Rachel came over and sat Grace on her leg so she could take the couch. "Sorry, sweetheart. Looks like Uncle Steve's getting bog-eyed. Time for bed."

There was more grumbling from Grace, but not much—she was a pretty good kid. Before Steve could react, she'd knelt up and given Steve a kiss on the cheek, then was gone, running up the stairs, leaving Steve to blink at Rachel, who had a fond smile on her face.

"We've made up a room for you; Danny will show you." Rachel leaned over and kissed the same spot on Steve's cheek, then stroked a hand over his hair briefly. "Thank you for being here."

"Thank—thanks for having me."

Steve turned to see Danny was saying something to Stan, who was nodding, and to Steve's huge surprise, they gave each other a quick hug, pounding each other roughly.

Then Danny turned and stared at Steve for a moment before offering his hand; Steve took it and let himself be hauled up slowly. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, and he kept his jaw clamped tight around any noise that wanted out.

"Yeah, definitely time for another dose," Danny said, pushing him toward the stairs. "Start walking and I'll bring our stuff up."

Steve was a little out of it, so he didn't catch Danny's wording right away. It wasn't until Danny nudged him into what obviously was a guest bedroom and tossed a couple of duffle bags on the floor beside a big double bed that Steve realized Danny was staying, too.

But, that was good. That was pretty all right fine. Steve went into the bathroom and took a piss, washed his hands, then came out to find Danny holding up a travel case. Steve took it and opened it up. Toothbrush, toothpaste, all wrapped up fresh. He gave Danny a puzzled look.

Danny shrugged. "From the hospital."

Steve nodded blearily and went back in the bathroom. He was barely keeping on his feet at this point, but he managed to brush his teeth and wash his face. He took one look at his bloodshot eyes and swore off the painkillers. He looked like crap. He'd make do with Tylenol from here on out. The medicine cabinet was empty, but he was sure if he asked Rachel she would have some.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah? What do you need?"

Christ. It sounded like Danny was hovering right outside the door.

"Got any Tylenol?"

"There's some in your pills already, and you're due."

"Nah, I'm not taking that shit anymore."

The bathroom door opened. "What's this? You're out of the hospital—" Danny consulted his watch, "a mere eight hours and you're already going against orders? I call bullshit, my friend." Danny disappeared for a second and came back with Steve's pill bottle in his hand. He shook one out and offered it. "Here you go. Take this and get into bed."

Steve glared, and Danny glared right back. Steve was pretty sure it would have gone on like that for a while if he hadn't gotten tired of using the sink to hold himself on his feet.

"Fine. Last time, though." He took the pill.

"Says you," Danny muttered under his breath.

Steve bumped by him on the way to the bed, making sure to use the pointy part of his elbow against Danny's bicep. It was worth the twinge of pain to hear Danny's yelp.

And then Steve crawled into the bed, track-pants and all and—oh, man. That was one soft bed, nothing but clean-smelling sheets and puffy pillows plush against his skin, and he unconsciously let out a groan of pure relief. God, he'd never been so wiped.

"I'm going to go say good night to Grace," Danny said in a low voice.

"Mmm."

Steve was near sleep when the lights flicked off and the bed dipped next to him. Maybe if he wasn't loopy and exhausted he would have flipped out a little, because he'd been wanting to sleep with Danny for a long goddamned time now—not like this, drugged up and injured, at Rachel's house and down the hall from the rest of Danny's family, but yeah—instead, though, Steve just sighed and settled deeper into the quiet dark.

"Hey," Danny said, shifting beside him. "You awake enough to hear something?"

"I'm here." Steve's heart thudded, and his eyes opened against the dark.

Danny sounded closer. "Yeah, you're here. You know I'm pretty glad about that, right? I mean, Jesus, McGarrett, you almost really messed up yesterday, you know that? You know what you almost did to me?"

Steve made a protesting noise, cut off by the feel of Danny's hand traveling cautiously over his chest to stop at the edge of his bandage. Steve held his breath for a second, then let it loose. "Danny..."

"Seriously, Steve. I knew—when you turned off your phone, just that second, I knew—I think my brain almost broke just then, because I had a feeling I was making a trade-off I really wasn't ready for, and yeah, it would've fucking killed me to lose Grace, but you think it wouldn't have cut me right through if I lost you in the bargain getting her back? Jesus Christ." Steve felt the press of Danny's forehead against his shoulder, and he tried to lift his hand to touch him, he wanted to, but the angle was too painful with his injured side.

"Come here, Danny. Please, I can't—"

Danny must have figured it out, because he shifted over and rested his arm across Steve's chest.

Steve turned his head and suddenly Danny's face was right there, breath brushing against his lips.

"I'm sorry, I really have to," Steve said, and kissed him.

It wasn't much of a kiss. Steve was too uncoordinated to press it, too constrained by his injury to move. But it was the best kiss ever, too, because Danny kissed him right back, a gentle slide and clasp of lips, before releasing Steve with a sigh.

"Yeah," Danny said. "I'm sorry, too, you asshole. If you hadn't gotten yourself shot we'd be making it like crazed weasels right now."

Steve let out a snort, and then moaned a little. God, he hurt.

Danny brushed his lips against Steve's jaw, right where he'd punched him. "Go to sleep, you big jerk. Get better already. After that, you can apologize in a whole new way."

"Sounds like a plan," Steve said roughly. "A really good one."

"My plans are always the best," Danny said, a smirk back in his voice. "I'm glad to hear you acknowledge that."

Steve would've made a snappy comeback, but he was already gone.

 

_End._

**Author's Note:**

> SpongeBob SquarePants: [Gary Takes a Bath](http://spongebob.nick.com/videos/clip/gary-takes-a-bath-clip.html). 
> 
> [Do Starfish Have Eyes?](http://marinelife.about.com/od/invertebrates/f/Do-Starfish-Have-Eyes.htm)
> 
> [See the Kaneana Caves](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&aq=&sll=20.164255,-155.577393&sspn=3.799659,6.49292&ie=UTF8&hq=caves&hnear=Oahu&layer=c&cbll=21.519467,-158.227914&cbp=11,0,,0,0&photoid=pg-0tXCQXM3MO3TZ5epgaFmnA&ll=21.519467,-158.227914&spn=0.184607,0.673599&z=11).


End file.
